Inykhnum
Inykhnum was an ancient Egyptian high-ranking official who worked and lived during the transition time between Second and Third Dynasty of Egypt. The king under which he served are not known for certain, the subject being currently highly disputed.
Attestations
Inykhnum's name appears exclusively in black ink inscriptions on alabaster shards and vessel fragments as well as on a few limestone shards. These artifacts were found beneath the step pyramid in the eastern galleries of the necropolis of pharaoh Djoser at Saqqara and in the great fort Shunet el-Zebib of king Khasekhemwy at Abydos. Additional findings bearing Inykhnum's name come from two private mastaba tombs at Saqqara and from the pyramid of king Sekhemkhet. The ink inscriptions are short and written in hieratic writings.Identity
Name
Inykhnum's name is connected to te deity Khnum. Toby A. H. Wilkinson translates the name with "Khnum is my father" and evaluates this as a proof for an upcoming cult of Khnum during the reign of king Nynetjer.Titles
As a high-ranking official and priest, Inykhnum owned elite and pious titles:- Member of the elite
- Valet of the king
- Sem-priest
- God servant of Khnum
Career
Ilona Regulski and Peter Kaplony are convinced that Inykhnum held his office some time between the end of Khasekhemwy's and the beginning of Sekhemkhet's reigns. Earlier assumptions made by Wolfgang Helck, who dated Inykhnum's ink inscriptions to the time of Nynetjer, are questioned by Ilona Regulski. She points to comparisons between the ink inscriptions from Abydos and findings from Saqqara with contemporary cursive writings from the 2nd and early 3rd dynasties. First, Regulski remarks that the "17th time of the cattle count" appearing alongside the official's name, is a way of writing which was not common until the reign of Djoser. Additionally, if the cattle count was celebrated every second year as was the case during the Old Kingdom, Inykhnum must have served a king reigning for at least 34 years. Such a long reign is only attested for king Nynetjer of the early 2nd dynasty. However, Regulski suspects that Khasekhemwy or Djoser may have ruled longer than thought.Furthermore, special font designs appearing together with Inykhnum's name were not yet common during Nynetjer's time on the throne. In particular, Regulski points to special hieroglyphs and their spellings within the hieratic writing: the zigzag-shaped hieroglyph N35 was still visibly jagged when written cursively under king Nynetjer, but from the reign of king Peribsen onwards it was written as a simple horizontal line with thickened ends. This is precisely the writing form that appears in the ink inscriptions of Inykhnum. Another hieroglyph, the sign Aa1 was depicted as a simple ring or circle during Ninetjer's lifetime, while from king Sekhemib onwards it was written with the familiar horizontal hashing inside the circle. In cursive hieratic writings this sign appears as a circle with one or two fattened, horizontal or diagonal lines. This is also the case in the ink inscriptions of Inykhnum. Thus, according to Regulski, the typographics of the ink inscriptions lead to a secure datation of Inykhnum's life some time between the end of Khasekhemwy's reign and the very beginning of king Sekhemkhet's reign.